kleins chmidt



EXTENSIBLE AUTOMOBILE DOORA APPLICATION FILED MMI?. 19m.

' A. F. I IEIIISCIIIIIIDTA I I I 1,325,790. Pwmed Dee. 23,1919.

Fignil 4 WITNESS.

6 I4 4 j 7; B'y

@ai @um A TTOHA/EK ANTHONY F. KLEINSCHMIDT, F INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA.

Specification of Letters Patent.

EXTENSIBLE AUTOMOBILE-DOOR.

Patented Dec. 23, 1919.

Application led May 17, 1918. Serial No. 235,11.

I To all whom it may conce/m:

\ ering l tion to be obtained 40" 4covered eert-ain l ments inExtensible Automobile-Doors, of ,which the following is a specification.

' is embodied in Be it known that I, ANTHQNY F. KLEIN- sorrMiDT, acitizen ofthe United States, residing at lIndianapolis, Marion county,and State of lndiana, have invented and disnew and useful Improve- Myinvention relates to automobile doors. rllhe object of the invention isto provide a door having ,a sliding section therein. The door isparticularly adapted for use in cennection with automobiles havingtouring bodies in which a sash is adapted to take the place of thegusualcurtain employed therein, although the invention. is also applicable tocars having convertible topsorx closed bodies. Other objects are toprovide a door of this character in which the smooth exterior surfaceofthe door body shall be preserved and in which the sash is effectivelyconcealed and protected when lowered; to provide a door, which, when thesash is elevated to closing position, will present the appearance ofbeing formed in one piece; to provide effective means 'for raising andlowthe sash and forholdin it fixed at any desired height by means o theoperating mechanism therefor, and` without theV use of auxiliarycatches; to provide an effective and easily operated latch handlecooperating with the hollow door and the sliding sash therein7 and toprovide means whereb the sash frame may be effectively engage with thesash and at the same time said frame may be adjusted to lit the guidingsurfaces of the door between which `it travels, thereby enabling propercompensafor the wear and looseness occasioned by the shocks and Vjars towhich v anv automobile door is subjected in usage.

With these objeotsninj view, my

preferableform` in the arrangement and -constructionhereina-fterdescribed and illustrated in the accompanying-- drawings.

ln these drawings, Figure 1 is a side view in elevation of an automobiledoor partly broken away; right angles to vertical section of the latchoperatinghandle; Fig. 4, a detail horizontal section on the line 4:-4 ofFig. l, and Fig. 5, a`detail invention Fig. 2, a vertical section atFig. 1; Fig. 8, an enlargedV cross section showing a modifiedconstruction of stop means for the sash.

Referring to the drawings, 1 indicates the front panel of the body ofthedoor which body is made hollow to receive the vertically sliding windowsash. Secured to this panel along each vertical side edge, or formedintegral therewith, if desired, are rearwardly extending side flanges 2,to which is removably secured a panel 8 constituting the rear wall ofthe door. This rear wall is spaced from the front wall of the door toprovide the chamber in which the sash moves. The walls are provided withborder strips fl, projecting inwardly from the outer panel along thebottom and two vertical sides thereof, and a similar border, strip 5,extending along the upper edge of the panel, which latter border stripprovides also a housing and journal bearing for the operating shaft ofthe door raising and lowering mechanism. y

Secured on the opposing inner faces of the front and rear panels of thedoors and along the border strips of said panels are vertical guiderails 6, preferably V-shaped with which areadapted to engagecomplementarily shaped grooves 7 formed in the I tion, and. its inneredges are engaged with the pane by a clamping pressure exerted' againstthe same through screws l() which pass through one section of the frameand into screw-threaded holes in bosses 11 formed. on the other sectionwhereby the same is 'clamped within the frame by the compression of thelatter against the glass. The V-shaped grooves of the frame serve todivide the latter into an inner compressible or clamping section asabove described and an inner expansion section 12. This outer section ofthe hollow frame is adapted to be expanded or contracted to cause it toproperly lit the guide rails carried by the inner and outer panels so asto both provide such a free engagement as will enable the sash to movereadily and at the same time prevent rattling of the sash. The extent ofsuch expansion or contraction of the frame may be determined byadjusting means consisting in the embodiment herein illustrated ofV-shaped wedging members 13 mounted within the frame and extending alongthe vertical and horizontal .portions thereof.

These wedges are adapted to bear against the inwardly inclined innerwalls 13 formed by the depressed grooves in the frame and are mounted inthe chambers 12. In said chambers are also mounted in such manner as tobe held ixedly by the walls of the chamber, longitudinal blocks orpressure member carriers 14, the inner edges of which enter the V-shapedwedges. Through thesev blocks or strips are adapted to extend screws 15the inner ends of which are adapted to bear against, wedges 13 and theheads of which screwsare exposed along the louter borders of the frameby means of openings 16 adapted to permitthe insertion of a screw driverto engage the screw. When these screws are screwed inwardly their endswill bear against the V-shaped wedges 18, and force the latter againstthe inclined inner walls of the chamber 12, thus expanding the wall ofsaid chamber and increasing the cross sectional projection thereof so asto cause the frame to more closely approach the opposing walls of theinner and outer panels of theA door and carry the grooves into closercontact with the rails. The pressure is correspondinglyreduced byretracting the adjusting screws.

Formed in the outer face of each inner vertical section of the sashframe are 'rack teeth 17 with which are adapted to engage respectivelypinions 18 carried at the opposite ends of a rotatable shaft 19 which isjournaled in the housing` member 5 of the front panel. This shaft isadapted to be operated by mechanism capable of automatically retainingthe sash in any position of elevation to which it may be adjusted. Themechanism here illustrated, and preferably employed, consists of a-wormgear 20 fixed on the shaft and adapted-to be engaged by a worm 21carried on the end of a stud shaft 22 extending through the front paneland having on the outer end thereof outside of said panel acrank 23carrying a handle 24rwhereby the worm may be turned so as to rotate theshaft and thus through the engagement of the rack and pinion elevate orlower the sash with respect to the door. A stop 25 is provided to limitthe upward movement of the lsash and is adapted to engage the bottomrail 25 of the frame. In touring bodies, the sides of the sash framehave no support when the latter is in elevated position, but the supportobtained from the engagement of the frame` with the walls of the doorand the guide rail is su'icient to hold the sash in an elevated posiapiece door when the sash is elevated.

tion. When used with a closed body or convertible top the sides of thesash may engage the usual posts or rigid frame of the body. Owing to thefact that the borders of the sash frame are in substantial continuationof the vertical borders of the door the construction presents theappearance of a rlone ie sash is held automatically in any desiredposition by the worm and worm gear thus avoiding the necessity of usingadditional catch means.

The door is provided with'a latch 26 adapted to be operated from ,theoutside by a handle 27 of ordinary construction and from the interior bya U-shaped handle which passes down within the door under the spaceadapted to be occupied by the sash. This inner handle comprises a latchbolt connected member 28, an outer vertical lever 29, a horizontalrocking shaft 30 below the level of the sash, and an inner verticallever 31 fixed on the rocking shaft and carrying at its upper end ahandle 32. By this arrangement the latch mav be operated from the msidewithout interference with the sash.

In Fig. 5, a construction is shown in which the lower sash rail'and theupper door body rails are wedge shaped, thus providing means forlimiting the upward movement of the sash and also increasing thefirmness of support of the sash frame by thedoor.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. An extensible automobile door having a hollow body, a window thereincomprising glass and a metal sash mounted therein and adapted to beprojected above said hollow body, said body being provided with guidingsurfaces for the frame of said sash, and means for adjusting the sidesof said sash toward and from the guiding surfaces to regulate thesliding as set forth.

2. An extensible automobile door having a hollow body, a verticallyslidable sash therein, a frame for said sash, guiding surfaces in saidbody between which said frame is adapted to slide, and means forcontractmg or expanding said frame to adjust it to said gxuidmgsurfaces.

3. n extensible automobile door having a hollow body, a sash movablevertically therein and-formed ex ansible and contractible at both edges,we ge within said frame adapted to adjust the same in relation to thewalls of the body, means for operating the wedge, and means foradjustably clamping the inner edge of the sash to the glass,substantially as set forth.

4. In an extensible automobile door, in combination with a hollow body,a sash vertically slidable therein, a frame for said sash having meansfor clamping the pane of the sash by pressure, means for exerting thefit thereof, substantially 4Clamping pressure, said frame having bodyfitting border portions expansible and contraetible,and separate meansfor expanding said portion toward the opposite parts of the said body.

5. An extensible automobile door having a hollow body, a sash movabletherein hav- 6. An alitomobile door'comprising a hol# low body, a sashmounted to s ide vertically in said body, and consisting of a pair ofver- .tieally disposed members adapted to clamp the Window pane `in oneedge and be eX- panded and contracted to t the slideway Vin the body latits other edge, means for adjusting the parts of said sashv at its paneclamping edge, and separate means for eX- pandmg and contracting itsother edge, substantially as set forth.

7. In an automobile door, the combination of a hollow door body, asliding Window in said body, said Window oomprlsing a pane and a sash,the sash being formed of a pair of members adapted to clamp the pane attheir inner edges and't the slideways in the body at their outer edges,each member being formed with avertieal V-shaped ridge intermediate"itsedges, a wedge adapted to operate between said ridges, and means foroperating said wedge, substantially as set forth.

VIn witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand `and seal at SanFrancisco, CaliL fornia, this 30th day of April, A. D. nine teen hundredand eighteen.

` ANTHNY F. KLEINSGHMIDT. Witnesses: A

D. M. HANSEN, `Germanen C. LYTHooE.

